BIG TUNA 



Before I was ready, before we expected anything, 

 before we got near these leaders, a briUiant, hissing, 

 white splash burst out of the sea, and a tuna of mag- 

 nificent proportions shot broadside aloi^ and above 

 the surface, sending the spray aloft, and he hit that 

 bait with incredible swiftness, raising a twenty-foot- 

 square, furious splash as he hooked himself. I sat 

 spellbound. I heard my line whistling off the reel. 

 But I saw only that swift-descending kite. So swift- 

 ly did the tuna sound that the kite shot down as if 

 it had been dropping lead. My line broke and my 

 rod almost leaped oiit of my hands. 



We were aU silent a moment. The school of tuna 

 showed again, puttering and fiddling around, with 

 great blue-and-green flashes caught by the sun. 



"That one weighed about two hundred and fifty," 

 was all Captain Dan said. 



R. C. remarked facetiously, evidently to cheer me, 

 " Jakey, you picks de shots out of that plue jay an' 

 we makes ready for anudder one!" 



"Say, do you imagine you can make me laugh!" 

 I asked, in tragic scorn. 



"Well, if you could have seen yourself when that 

 tuna struck you'd have laughed," replied he. 



While Dan steered the boat R. C. got out on the 

 bow and gaffed the kite. I watched the tuna tails 

 standing like half-simitars out of the smooth, colored 

 water. The sun was setting in a golden haze 

 spotted by pink clouds. The wind, if anything, was 

 softer than ever; in fact, we could not feel it unless 

 we headed the boat into it. The fellow below us was 

 drifting off farther, still plugging at his tuna. 



Captain Dan put the wet kite on the deck to dry 



235 



